Beck's Coffee opens storefront, has new hours

Coffee shop hopes to become community staple

Tyrell Thacker and Arianna Parsons, co-owners of Beck's Coffee House, pose for a photo at their recently opened storefront located at 130 N. Mesquite. (Photos by Niki Rhynes — For the Sun-News)

LAS CRUCES &GT;&GT; It only took seven hours to make the decision.

And that decision lead to new ownership of Las Cruces staple, Beck's Coffee.

What was started in 2010 by Rebecca "Beck" Rosnick came under new ownership last August, and now co-owners Tyrell Thacker and Arianna Parsons can be found carrying on the Beck's tradition of roasting, bagging and brewing almost 20 varieties of handcrafted blends of coffee, from Bees Knees and Brekky Blend, to Full Moon Magic and Jacked Rabbit House Blend.

The change of hands happened after Rosnick contacted the couple about purchasing the business. They obliged, calling it an "opportunity." Thacker trained intensely for a month with Rosnick, learning the art of roasting the signature blends.

A rustic interior invites guests inside for a variety of different coffee beverages.

"It's still a learning process," he said. "I pick it up a little bit more every time we roast."

The first blend Thacker did on his own, Parsons said, was Wake the Dead Zombie Blend, a robust, dark seasonal blend for Halloween.

"It was the most popular blend ever. It was really awesome," Parsons said. "People loved it."

In January, Beck's transcended from it's always-popular booth at the Las Cruces farmer's market to its own storefront, located at 130 N. Mesquite, where it's open seven days a week. But, market-goers can still get their fix at the Saturday and Wednesday downtown markets.

Before opening the storefront, Thacker was roasting the beans in a warehouse in Mesilla Park with no heat or plumbing in the middle of winter.

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"We looked around for a different roasting location and found this spot so close to our house that is just fell into place," Parsons said.

The shop began with a roaster in the back, one rocking chair from the couple's home in the front, and a couple of folding tables and chairs with the intention of customers coming in and getting their coffee to go.

But it soon snowballed, Parsons said, and through donations of skills and time from community members, the space eventually bloomed into a spacious coffee shop, with homey, rustic touches and comfortable indoor and outdoor seating.

Currently, the couple is still serving up beans Rosnick ordered for the business before selling it.

"All of those big bags are filled with beans from around the world," Parsons said, pointing at large burlap sacks on the Saltillo Tile floor of the cozy coffee shop.

Their current popular blend is the Wedding Blend, inspired by the upcoming marriage of Parsons and Thacker early next month.

"It's really lovely. It's seasonal, so we just have it for May and June and it's a blend of light and dark, so it's got this nice balance of good body and a nice sweet finish," Parsons said.

You can go around the world with their coffee varieties that include Brazilian, Columbian, Ethiopian and even Tanzanian Peaberry.

Beck's Coffee, owned by Tyrell Thacker and Arianna Parsons of Las Cruces, offers freshly roasted coffee beans at their new location in the Historic Mesquite District. (Niki Rhynes — For the Sun-News)

"We just want to bringing in some of these other (varieties) that maybe Las Cruces hasn't seen," Parsons said of future plans to branch out on their coffee offerings. "That will be a big learning curve because we will have to do a lot of research on the roasting process for them and experiment a little bit. It should be fun."

Parsons said that inspiration for their coffees come from their "well-educated consumer base" who approach them at the farmer's market and in their shop, offering up suggestions on new beans to order and some of their personal favorites.

"We have so many conversations with so many people that we really get to pick their brains and see what they like and then we get to go from there," she said. "So they've made it very easy."

Moving forward, Parsons said they would like to expand the Beck's hours to include being open in the evening, turn their kitchen into a commercial kitchen so they can offer house made pastries to accompany the coffee, host live music, and eventually revive their dream to one day open an ice cream parlor as well.

"It's a never-ending list. It will be evolving as long as it's in existence," Parsons laughed.

Coming soon

On June 20, Beck's will have its official grand opening, during which, Parsons said, they will have a "micro grant program" that allows local small businesses and entrepreneurs to apply for the grant, presenting their ideas to the audience gathered at the coffee shop.

Whoever's idea is deemed best by the customers walks away with a cash prize.

"It's a fun way to learn the different ideas of what people are doing in Las Cruces, and give them a small leg up," Parsons said.

Beck's will also be home to One Read Program this summer, where everyone who wants to participate is encouraged to read the same book and, at the conclusion, discuss the book and make art about it.

A monthly activity Parsons hopes to bring to the coffee shop is to invite other local businesses to join in a three-minute fiction contest for adults and young adults.

Each division will be given a phrase and will be asked to write a story that contains the designated phrase that can be read in three minutes. The winners will receive gift certificates to local business and the winning story will be read on air.

"We are trying to bring back the old school (way of thinking). Coffee houses back in the day were a center of culture and discussion, so we want to bring back some of that," Parsons said.

Outside of the office

Understandably, Thacker, a native of Soccorro and Las Cruces, and Parsons, a Missouri native, are busy outside of the coffee shop.

Most of their energy is currently being spent planning their wedding, which will include homemade beer, root beer and ice cream floats — all made by Thacker and uniquely tailored to the June wedding.

Parsons has talents of her own, and makes crafts out of burlap.

She is also on the board for Las Esperanzas and has been with the Las Cruces Big Brothers Big Sisters for two years.

Together, the couple enjoys gardening and spelunking.

For more information about Beck's, call 575-556-9850, email becks.coffee@gmail.com or find Beck's Coffee on Facebook.

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